


A Man of Splendour

by likethenight



Series: A Little Piece of the Sea [6]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Banter, First Meetings, Gen, M/M, Meet-Cute, Rare Characters, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25865536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likethenight/pseuds/likethenight
Summary: Gimli likes to tease Legolas about how starry-eyed he got when they first met Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth. Legolas likes to deny everything, but he knows Gimli is right.Ficlet written for Writers' Month 2020, day 12, prompt "meet-cute".
Relationships: Gimli (Son of Glóin) & Legolas Greenleaf, Imrahil/Legolas Greenleaf
Series: A Little Piece of the Sea [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/39969
Comments: 12
Kudos: 7
Collections: Writer's Month 2020





	A Man of Splendour

**Author's Note:**

> I think this must be the very definition of a rare pairing; it's based on a single meeting over a couple of paragraphs in Return of the King, but nevertheless it's one of my OTPs and I will defend it till my dying breath. :D

_“That is a fair lord and a great captain of men,” said Legolas. “If Gondor has such men still in these days of fading, great must have been its glory in the days of its rising.”_ (The Return of the King, ‘The Last Debate’)

  
  
  
Gimli likes very much to tease me about my first meeting with Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth. We came upon him in the streets of Minas Tirith while we were looking for Merry and Pippin after the battle of the Pelennor Fields, and I was instantly struck by his noble bearing and his handsome face. At the time I took it for simple recognition of the Elven blood in his veins, or that was what I told myself, for I did not quite understand the feeling that came over me at the sight of him, but I have since come to wonder if the Valar were trying to tell me something, even then.

We only exchanged a few words, but there was something about him that held my attention, even after we had parted ways, and made me want to talk about him, although I tried very hard to cloak my interest in simple admiration for the Men of Gondor. 

Gimli, of course, saw straight through me. He did not point it out straight away, only muttered something pessimistic about the inconstancy of Men and the inferiority of their stonework, but later, after we had reunited with Merry and Pippin and exchanged tales of our respective adventures, he fixed me with a determined gaze.

“You liked him, didn’t you, laddie?” he said, and although I realised I had not managed to get away with my subterfuge, I tried to deny it a while longer.

“Who?” I asked blandly, and Gimli harrumphed and shook his head. 

“Don’t be dense, you know it doesn’t work on me. That Man we met in the street, Prince Imra-thingie of Dol-wherever-that-is. He’s handsome, I’ll grant you that, and a fine warrior.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Gimli,” I said, and Gimli harrumphed again. 

“Yes you do. I think I know you well enough by now to know when you’re trying to hide that you like someone.”

“Well, perhaps you don’t,” I said, and I changed the subject, feeling a little uncomfortable at my interest having been seen and recognised. What if Imrahil had noticed it? Had I shown it on my face, without realising, had he heard the beating of my heart as it turned over in my chest at the sight of him? He was very important in Gondor, close in rank to the Steward and therefore to Aragorn, and I did not want to give him insult by accident, particularly as I was not exactly dressed for such a meeting. Imrahil was wearing his battle armour, beautifully crafted and polished steel, still shining even in the aftermath of the battle we had just fought, whereas I was still in the travel-worn, battle-stained tunic and leggings I had worn when the Fellowship started out from Imladris so many months before, and the leather armour the Rohirrim had lent me. I looked and felt like the lowliest of archers, not at all deserving to be looking upon a man of such splendour as Imrahil, for all that I was a prince of my own people.

“You denied everything!” Gimli likes to remind me. “And then two years later, just when I was beginning to think you’d been telling the truth - !”

He is right, of course. Two years later, at the wedding of Éomer and Lothíriel of Dol Amroth, Imrahil’s daughter, I acted upon my initial attraction to Imrahil, for by that time I had understood it for what it was, and we became lovers. Gimli was almost incoherent with laughter when Imrahil and I appeared together, late, for breakfast, and only Éowyn’s kindness and thought for my feelings saved me from him denouncing me right there as the liar he had always known I was; thank the Valar, she was sitting next to Gimli and laid a hand on his arm and engaged him in urgent conversation just before he could open his mouth. 

Imrahil noticed, and smiled, and I had to promise him in a whisper that I would explain, but later, when we were alone, and not in front of all of my friends. His amusement when I told him was boundless, and since that day he has delighted in joining Gimli in teasing me.

But of course I would forgive either of them anything, for Gimli is my dearest friend and Imrahil is my beloved, who lights my life and eases the Sea-longing within me, and I would never be without either of them. And I will be forever grateful to the Valar that they led me along that particular street upon that day, and brought me to the Prince of Dol Amroth.

**Author's Note:**

> The tale of how Legolas and Imrahil meet again at Éomer and Lothíriel's wedding is told in the first part of this series, [A Little Piece of the Sea](https://archiveofourown.org/works/723169).


End file.
